Punisol, Bankura: For 44 years, Jalilur Rahman worked to bring change in Punisol village of Bankura district in West Bengal. The village, home to a significant Muslim population, has long struggled with low access to education, lack of healthcare awareness, as well as scarce livelihood opportunities. Rahman established the Punisol Ajmiya Gramin Granthagar, a library, and it helped villagers gradually move away from superstition and encouraged a scientific and rational outlook in the area.Rahman, who served as the librarian of the institution, retired six years ago. Now 66, he is bedridden with a neurological illness. In the recently published voter list for West Bengal, an “Under Adjudication” stamp appeared against his name. In fact, several thousand residents of Punisol, including he, earlier received notices for hearings when the draft list of voters was published. Despite his failing health, Rahman had visited the Onda Block Office multiple times, trying to prove himself a genuine voter of the state.“With this ailing body, I went to the Onda Block several times and submitted all relevant documents – passport, land papers, retirement pension papers – and yet today I am an under ‘Under Adjudication’ voter. My name has been marked with this stamp at serial number 1232 of Booth Number 133 under the 254 Onda Assembly constituency. Tell me, what could be more painful than this?” Rahman told The Wire in a voice heavy with anguish.Retired Librarian Jalilur Rahman shows his documents. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Rahman’s ordeal did not end there. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Booth No. 133 was his daughter, Rabeya Bibi Dalal, a nutrition worker from Punisol. She has been a voter, listed at serial number 457 in Booth No. 130, and while she filled out the SIR form recently, she wrote her father’s name – Jalilur Rahman – as it appeared in the 2002 SIR records, following the prescribed rules. However, after the voter list was published, Rabiya Bibi’s name was also marked “Under Adjudication”. “How does one explain this?” he said.Rabeya Bibi Dalal, a resident and BLO of Booth No. 133, Onda Assembly. Her inclusion in the voter list is ‘Under Adjudication’. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.His anxious query finds an echo in the voices of numerous residents of Punisol village, one of the state’s areas with a large Muslim population. Nearly 90,000 people live in this one village, and around 26,000 are registered voters. Among them, in the electoral roll, 8,600 voters have been marked “Under Adjudication”.Since the publication of the final voter list on February 28, anxiety among Punisol residents has been mounting steadily as they check their status on the electoral roll. The growing sense of uncertainty has started to affect teenagers and children of the families, even though they are not voters.Worried residents of Punisol Natungram search for their names in the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Children and adolescents usually enjoy the festive atmosphere surrounding elections – the campaigns by political parties and the gatherings on polling day especially. But this time, hearing the elders in the village talk, many have come to believe that some members of their families may not be able to vote, said Golam Khaja Khan, a resident and health worker with the National Health Mission (NHM). Khan, his wife Rojina Khatun Bibi Khan, an ASHA worker, and their son Rajibul Islam Khan, are also marked “Under Adjudication” at Booth Number 130 of the Onda Assembly constituency. Their names appear in the voter list against the serial numbers 197, 286 and 394, respectively.Why the growing anxietyPunisol village is located about 12 kilometres east of Bankura town, the district headquarters. It is an old settlement, predominantly of Muslim communities. The village is surrounded by localities of Hindu communities, and members of both religions have long coexisted in peace.“Only a handful of families here own agricultural land. Among the nearly 90,000 residents spread across 20 paras (hamlets), barely five to seven people are employed as government staff or primary school teachers,” said Mafijur Rahman, who lives in the Paschim-Dokshin para of Punisol. An unemployed youth with a master’s degree in Bengali, Mafijur said many young men and women, despite their education, remain unemployed and spend their days in deep frustration and despair.There was a time when the literacy rate in the village was among the lowest in the state. The literacy campaigns of the 1990s, however, changed this. Efforts were also made to spread health awareness and promote a scientific outlook among residents. Yet the village lags significantly in economic terms. Many residents engage in physically demanding and often risky work – from cutting trees and breaking stones to digging wells and other forms of manual labour – to make a living. Many migrate outside the state in search of work.A large section of villagers set out early every morning on their bicycles to distant areas such as Bankura, Taldangra and Onda to collect scrap iron, tin sheets or old newspapers from households. They sell these materials at low prices to eke out a small income.After the draft electoral roll was published on December 16, 2025, fear began to spread across Punisol. Many residents had to visit the Onda Block office several times, carrying documents to the verification hearings held across the state.“They called us thrice. I work as a hawker and my younger brother is a daily wage labourer on road constructions. We had to miss work and go to the block office for hearings,” said Saidul Bhangi of Punisol’s Keshabpur area.Many in Keshabpur, including several voters of Booth Number 141, raised similar experiences. Jahanara Khan (Serial Number 142), Begam Bhanu Khan (Serial Number 128), Monoyara Bibi Khan (Serial Number 133), Jelefa Khan (Serial Number 103), Amena Bibi (Serial Number 134) and Marium Khan said that the men in their families usually left early to work, while they collected firewood from nearby forests to keep their households running. Jahanara Khan, Begum Bhanu Khan, Manoyara Bibi Khan, Amena Bibi Khan, Jalefa Khan and Morium Khan show their voter cards. They are marked ‘Under Adjudication’ in the SIR. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.They all had to miss work and visit the Block Office to get our names corrected in the voter list,the women narrated. Now that the final list is out, it says whether they will be allowed to vote or not is uncertain. If that is the case, they ask, why were we asked to submit so many documents and told there would be no problem? “Why were we harassed like this?”many of them kept asking.All of them have been stamped “Under Adjudication”, as many as 750 of the 1,045 voters registered in Booth No. 130.Eighty-six-year-old Abdul Sabur Molla of the Upardanda area of Punisol is another “Under Adjudication” voter. His name appears at serial number 874 in Booth Number 148.“I have been casting my vote since the 1950s. I never imagined that such a situation would arise. On what grounds have I been placed under consideration?” the octogenarian asked.He said that the BLO of this booth was primary school teacher Akbar Ali Mondal, whose name appeared at serial number 330 in the voter’s list. In the new list, Mondal’s name is marked as “Under Adjudication”.An elderly resident of Punisol village, Abdul Sabur Molla, shows his name marked ‘Under Adjudication’ in the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Residents allege that in 20 booths (numbered 130 to 150) in Punisol, almost every family has at least one voter whose name is under consideration. In many households, multiple members are in that category.The families expressed a common concern: When they filled and submitted the SIR forms, the BLO checked everything before accepting them. Many later went to the Block Office to correct mistakes in their details and submitted the required documents. At that time, they say, the officials smilingly told them that everything was in order and that they would not need to come again. But now they see that their status was uncertain. “What kind of process is this?” they kept saying.In neighbouring Natungram, adjacent to Punisol, Booth No. 126 has a total of 1,071 voters. Of them, 139 are Muslim. In the final list, 82 of these voters have been marked “Under Adjudication.”“Will only people from the Muslim community remain under consideration in the voter list?” asked Natungram village residents Sultana Bibi (Serial No. 824) and Sharifa Bibi (Serial No. 823), whose names, too, have been placed under adjudication. Their elderly father, Sheikh Israel (Serial No. 825), is in the same category.Sultana Bibi and Sharifa Bibi, at their home in Natungram, showing the voter list with their names included. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Meanwhile, the name of another resident, Subash Mirza (Serial No. 334) of this booth, has been completely removed from the voter list.Subash Mirza, a resident of Natungram, shows his voter card. His name has been deleted from the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.“I have been casting my vote for many years. Why has my name been removed now? What is my fault?” he asked. Mirza, who works as a driver, is under severe mental stress and fear. Unable to go to work for the past few days, he has been staying at home, and his family is facing acute financial hardship as a result.Among the Hindu community in Punisol as well, several voters have been left out of the final list. These include resident Rinku Mal (Serial No. 978), Bharat Bangal (Serial No. 527), his wife Jayanti Bangal (Serial No. 528), and their daughter Rina Bangal (Serial No. 586), as well as Priti Ghose and Poulomi Prashait.Jayonti Bangal, a resident of Natungram, shows her voter card and that of her husband. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Several Punisol residents alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently received fewer votes in general and panchayat elections. In recent times, sections of the poor minority Muslim and Scheduled Caste communities had started distancing themselves from the ruling Trinamool Congress party as well.Rinku Mal of Natungram: Her name has been deleted from the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Last January, activists of the BJP, led by Onda constituency MLA Amar Sakha, went to the Onda Block Office and submitted Form 7 seeking the removal of names of Muslim residents of Punisol from the voter list. However, the Block authorities did not summon those whose names were submitted by the BJP, villagers alleged.According to them, there was widespread campaigning in the area that Muslim voters’ names would be removed en masse from the electoral rolls, which spread a deep sense of fear and panic.“In line with that announcement, several names have been deleted, while many valid voters have been placed under the ‘Under Adjudication’ category, leaving them in uncertainty,” said Angur Ali Khan, a marginal farmer.When contacted, Onda BJP MLA Sakha said the SIR had been conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. “Along with Muslims, the names of several Hindu voters have also been removed. The entire process is being handled by the Election Commission,” he said.Local Trinamool Congress leader Sabir Hossain Pathan, however, questioned the role of the state administration. “Officials of the state government were also involved in the SIR process. How can they evade responsibility?” he asked.Pathan said his seventy-year-old mother, Alfatun Bibi, whose name appears at serial number 654 in Booth No. 130, has been placed under consideration. In the same family, Sainur Ali Pathan, Sher Hossain Pathan, Sattar-ul Pathan and Asraful Pathan have been marked “Under Adjudication”, citing “logical discrepancy”.“Why is the Trinamool silent in our area on this issue?” he asked.Trinamool Congress leader from Punisol, Sabir Hussein Pathan, with his mother, Alfatun Bibi, marked ‘Under Consideration’ in the voter list. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Local CPI(M) leader Pranab Pratihar alleged that the names of a large number of minority voters have been removed. “We have submitted deputations to the Onda Block Office multiple times, making it clear that elections cannot be conducted after excluding even a single eligible voter,” he told The Wire.Responding to queries from The Wire, the Onda Block Joint Block Development Officer Arjun Dasgupta said the matter was being reviewed again in accordance with the rules. “Further details will be provided by the ERO – Electoral Registration Officer,” he said.Arnab Ray, the ERO of the 254 Onda Assembly constituency, said the matter was being looked into by the Election Commission and that the District Magistrate would be the appropriate authority to comment. But repeated phone calls and messages sent to the District Magistrate of Bankura, Aneesh Dasgupta, seeking his response went unanswered.The issue is not limited to Punisol alone. In several villages of Bankura Block 1, including Paharpur, Natungram, Pachirdanga, Bhikurdihi, Kapista and Badulara, the names of many valid voters from predominantly Muslim-populated areas are now “Under Adjudication”, mostly citing “logical discrepancy”.On March 10, hundreds of residents from these areas staged a protest by blocking the Bankura-Purulia road at Natungram Crossing for a considerable period. Holding the national flag, the protesters raised a single demand: elections must not be conducted while keeping legitimate voters in a state of uncertainty.